Baking preparation.



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

PHILIP B. HUNT, OF MINNEAPOLIS, MINNESOTA.

BAKING PREPARATION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 654,570, dated July 24, 1 906. Application filed June 1, 1900. Serial No. 19,848. (No specimens.)

preparation containing an alkaline carbonate or bicarbonate in the form of coarse particles or granules in admixture with an acidifying agent and a suitable diluent.

It is well known that there are many bak ing-powders which when first prepared possess a leavening power quite up to the theoretical standard. In fact, this is the case with practically all of the baking-powders in present use; but with few exceptions all of the baking-powders are of so delicate and unstable a composition as to quickly lose strength if exposed to the atmosphere, and many of the powders are soconstituted that they become practically worthless if allowed toremain unused for any considerable length of time. As a result the co mercial value of the different baking-powdgis practically depends on the keeping qualities thereof. This deterioration of the powder is due principally to the absorption of moisture from the atmosphere by the acidifying agent of the powder, which moisture is quickly imparted to the fine particles-of carbonate or bicarbonate, re-

sulting in the evolution of carbonic-acid gas,

and hence a premature loss of leavening strength. Loss of strength on exposure to the atmosphere is particularly noticeable in the caseof phosphatic baking-powders, wherein the phosphoric acid material has a strong affinity for moisture, being too quickly soluble and quickly, afiecting the finely-pulverized alkaline material with which the acid material is associated. In addition to the premature loss of strength of the powder while the same is in the package it is well known that all forms of baking-powder containing alkaline material in a finely-pulverulent condition are noted for a too-ready solubility and the loss of an undue proportion of the leavening-gas when the powder is mixed with water preparatory to its incorporation with the bread material to be leavened. For these reasons unless the powder is absolutely fresh from the factory the person using the same is unable to determine the exact quantity that should be used, with the result that in most cases too great a proportion of powder is used, thus adding unnecessarily to the expense involved in its employment and increasing in an unnecessary and undesirable degree the amount of the residue that is left in the food made with baking-powder. Various attempts have been made to increase'the keeping qualities of baking-powder by subjecting the into the sameend by changing the ingredientsand the proportions thereof and by changes in the physical conditions of the materials making up the powders. Of the latter class perhaps the most successful of all the results obtained up to the present time have been with powders wherein the phosphoric-acid material has been introduced in the form of comparatively-coarse granules or particles, with the effect of somewhatreducing the area of a contact between the particles of acid and alkaline materials; but even these powders require to he'thoroughly sealed and are far more unstable than is desired and do not command as high a price as some other baking-powders. In all forms of baking-powderhitherto suggested in which sodium carbonate or bicarbonate is used in admixture with an acidifying agent .Ifind that this alkaline element has been introduced in the form of the finest obtainable and the consequent chemical union with the I alkaline element I find that the fine or minutely-granular alkaline material has been retained, the physical state of this element 30 the alkalinecarbonate or bicarbonate, prefwith relation to that of the acidifying agent being always disregarded. Acid phosphate is amorphous and retains its spongy or porous character however large the grains of phosphate may be, so' that the use of large granules instead of fine phosphatic material does but little to raise the keeping quality of the powder. Another reason for the failure of the granular phosphatic powders when contrasted with the ideal results desired by the manufacturers thereof grows out of the fact that the amorphous phosphatic material is extremely friable and it is impossible to eliminate from the powder a large percentage of very fine phosphatic material which inevitably tends toward the early decomposition of the powder.

The particular object of my invention is to provide aphosphatic baking-powder of a substantially-fixed character, so that the same may be kept for long periods either in sealed packages or exposed to the atmosphere without sufiering any material loss in leavening strength. 1

' My conception of an enduring baking-powder is a powder wherein the physical state or condition of the phosphatic material or' other acidifying agent is practically ignored, dependence for stability being upon the material or element which is least soluble-that is,

erably sodium bicarbonate, in uniform large or coarse crystals.

l have discovered that the deterioration and loss of leavening power in carbonate and bi-z carbonate powders is hastened undesirably and unnecessarily by the minute subdivision of the alkaline carbonate or bicarbonate, the veryfinen'ess thereof rendering it almost as easily permeable and soluble by moisture as is the amorphous phosphatic or other acidifying agent. Opposed to this condition in all powders hitherto suggested I have discovered to the state in which the acidifying agent is' i present is practically indestructible by exthat by employing only coarse or large grains or crystals of sodium carbonate or bicarbonate in place of the usual fine product I ob tain a baking-powder which without regard posure to the atmosphere, ,tests thereof having shown only the slightest loss of leavening power after long periods of exposure to an atmosphere saturated with moisture. I procure or manufacture the sodium carbonate or bicarbonate crystals of a size that will pass through a screen of about one hundred meshes and sometimes employ even coarser crystals. I prefer also in my powder to use the coarse phosphatic material, but do not demand uniformity therein nor freedom from finc or pulverulent phosphatic material, as the presence of even a large proportion of pulverulent phosphate in my powder does not materially affect or decrease its keeping qualities, owing to the strong barrier to decomposition established by the large, firm, and dense crystals of soda or like alkaline matefriable nature very little, if any, of the material is reduced to pulverulent form in the process of mixing the ingredients of the baking-powder. .This is a distinct advantage arising in my invention as contrasted with the preparations in which coarse phosphate is relied on to give stability and wherein perfection and uniformity of phosphatic granules or particles is impossible. Afurther reason for the stability of my baking-powder is that the element that is most difficult of attackthe alkaline element-has the greater portion of the surface of its grains protected from contact with the acidifying agent by the pulverulent diluent or filler, such as starch. Thus by disregarding the more-highly deli quescent or hygroscopic constituents of baking preparations and using the coarse dense carbonate or bicarbonate to guard against the chemical reaction that would follow a simultaneous moistening of all the constituents I amenable'd to produce a baking powder or preparation of a value far in excess of any thing hitherto produced, particularly as bearing upon phosphatic baking preparations, and yet my powder will when moistened preparatory to use in bread evolve sufficient gas for the dough and still retain enoughgas-producingpower to thoroughly lighten the same after it is placed in the oven. Obviously'this bakin g-powder, which is of a practically-fixed leavening power, admits of greater economy in use and leads to less residue in the food.

Although I have described my invention as a phosphatic baking-powder,I do not intend to confine the invention to such powders, as the gist of my invention-namely, the coarselygranulated alkaline element, preferably so dium bicarbonate-may be employed in many other baking powders and preparations with equally-good results and an equivalent enacidifying agent and a filler,subst-antia1ly as described.

3. A baking powder or preparation composed of alkaline carbonate or bicarbonate, in a coarse crystalline condition, a phosphatic material and a diluent or filler, substantially as described.

4. A baking powder or preparation containing an alkaline carbonate or bicarbonate in z o coarse crystalline granules admixed with granular phosphatic material, substantially as described.

PHILIP BL HUNT.

Inpresence of O. G. VHAWLEY, M. E. GOOLEY. 

